Friday, February 11, 2011

About Us

LEGENDARY STORY OF THE FAIRY PRINCESS OF LEDANG MOUNTAIN:

According to the 'Sejarah Melayu', Sultan Mansur once declared to his court that he desired to have a wife who shall surpass the wife of any prince in the world. When his ministers reminded him that he was already married to a princess of China, and a princess of Java, the vain Sultan said: " For one prince to marry the daughter of another prince-even other Rajas do that. What I desire is a bride such as no other Raja possesses: that is the girl we wish to marry. We desire to ask for the hand of the fairy princess of Ledang Mountain.

Johor traditional folklore says the fairy princess was married to the legendary Malay seafarer, Nakhoda (Admiral) Ragam. While they were sailing in his boat somewhere off Melaka, Nakhoda Ragam one day playfully tickled his wife's ribs while she was sewing and, in uncontrollable reaction, the princess inadvertently stabbed her immortal husband in the chest with the needle (accidentally it is the weaknesses of his immortal), killing him. The princess returned to her home on Ledang Mountain and vowed never to set eyes on another man.

Sultan Mansur immediately dispatched his finest warrior, the now-elderly Hang Tuah, to Ledang Mountain, together with other captains such as Sang Setia, and Tun Mamat. As they ascended the mountain, they were struck by a strong wind and could climb no further. Tun Mamat bade Hang Tuah, and the others to stay, while he and two or three other men traveled on. Tun Mamat climbed further, pass thickets of singing bamboo and reached a point where the "clouds seemed so close as to be within reach." He finally came upon a beautiful garden, where he found four women and he told them of his quest to find the fairy princess and presented the Sultan's marriage proposal. One of the women, Dang Raya Rani, said she was the Guardian of the Fairy Princess and would tell the princess of the Sultan's wish. After saying this, all the women vanished in thin air.

Later that night, appeared an old woman, bent-double with age, who told Tun Mamat that if the Raja of Melaka desire the princess, let him make for her a bridge of gold, and a bridge of silver from Melaka to Ledang Mountain.

" And for a betrothal gift let there be seven trays of mosquito hearts; seven trays of the heart of mites; a vat of water from dried areca nuts; a vat of the tears of virgin maidens; a cup of Raja's blood; and a cup of his son's blood."

On hearing the impossible conditions set by the princess for her dowry, Hang Tuah feels his promise to the Sultan cannot be fulfilled and vows not to return to Melaka in shame. He throw his kris into Duyung River in Melaka, and descends into the river's depths, vowing that Hang Tuah will only ever step on Melaka soil when the kris floats upon the river surface.

The Sultan however agrees to the Princess's demands and cruelly oppresses the people of Melaka in his quest for the gold and silver needed for the bridge. Wracked with madness, he draws his kris to kill his son for the cup of blood required but, as he is about to plunge the blade, the Princess magically appears and swears that she will never marry a man who is so weak and cruel as to oppress his people and murder his own son.

And here the enchanted princess remains forever immortal and here she lives to this day by her magic arts.

GAZETTEMENT:

Gunung Ledang National Park is located in district of Ledang in Johor. This mountain has bee gazetted on 3rd October 2005, but already starting its operation since July 2003. The size of gazette for this park is 8,611 hectares.

GEOLOGICAL FACTS:

Gunung Ledang area is made up of metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous rocks varying in age from pre-Triassic to Tertiary.The Gunung Ledang granitic mass is made up basically of a medium to coarse-grained non-porphyritic granite grading, in parts, into adamellite. Leucocratic varieties are also present, although such rocks are generally less common. The granitic mass intrudes into the Middle to Upper Triassic sedimentary rocks in the central portion of the area.

The age of this intrusive is estimated at 57 million years (Lower Tertiary).